December 1st: Alma Cersius, a yummy red

Sometimes I just want to give wine a hug. A huge squeezy one – they’re not very good on giving hugs back but they’re quite good at toe tingles.

I remember the day I tried this wine. It had been Proper Horrible on two counts = the weather and feeling miserable. I’d started a diet but needed a wine hug because I felt low.

I’d cooked a MASSIVE dish of cottage pie, all properly allowed in my diet. Aha, said the devil on my left shoulder. Wine. But nooooooo said the angel on my right shoulder.

From the picture you can tell which shoulder won. I shrugged off the guilt and gave the wine a hug.

Alma Cersius 2014

What is it: It’s a red. A bloomin’ lovely one too.

Where’s it from: It’s from the south of France, the Coteaux du Libron area in Languedoc-Roussillon.

I’ll tell you some more: I love that the Cersius vineyards are “kissed by the wind of Cers”. Romans believed that Cersius the wind god brought beneficial qualities for maturing fruit.

The grapes: It’s a blend of syrah (50per cent) and then equal measures of merlot and cabernet sauvignon.

It was aged for six months in oak and had some stirring of the lees.

Never mind the techie stuff: Ok, I’ll move on – it has aromas of deep red fruit and spices that you can bury yourself in. The cushion softness of black fruits speckled with spice weren’t put off by my overdose of pepper on the pie and above all that a cloak of sweet vanilla comforts and softens.

Anything else?: Yes. It was selected as one of the Sud de France Top 100 wines after a blind tasting led by wine expert Tim Atkin.

The small print: It is 13.5% abv and is available at Avery’s at £10.99 – You can buy here